Ben-Hur is MGM's three and a half hour, wide-screen epic. A Biblical tale subtitled A Tale of the Christ. The colorful 1959 version was the most expensive film ever made up to its time, and the most expensive film of the 50s decade. At $15 million and shot on a grand scale, it was a tremendous make-or-break risk for MGM Studios. It took six years to prepare for the film shoot, and over a half year of on-location work in Italy, with thousands of extras. It featured more crew and extras than any other film before it. The chariot race sequence in the Roman Circus (an amazing replica) with 15,000 extras is one of the most thrilling and famous in film history. Except for two of the most spectacular stunts, both Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd did their own entire chariot driving in the carefully choreographed sequence.

Ben-Hur proved to be an intelligent, exciting, and dramatic piece of filmmaking unlike so many other vulgar Biblical pageants with Hollywood actors. In the plot, Judah Ben-Hur was enslaved by a Roman tribunal friend, but then returned years later to seek revenge in the film's centerpiece, a chariot race. Ultimately, he would find redemption and forgiveness in the inspiring finale. Its depiction of the Jesus Christ figure was also extremely subtle. It never showed Christ's face but only the reactions of other characters to him.

It was one of the most honored, award-winning films of all time. It was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Actor (Charlton Heston), Best Supporting Actor (Hugh Griffith), Best Director (William Wyler), Best Color Cinematography, Best Color Art Direction, Best Sound, Best Score, Best Film Editing, Best Color Costume Design, Best Special Effects, and Best Screenplay.